Eur. J. Entomol. 115: 450-454, 2018 | DOI: 10.14411/eje.2018.046

Pseudoparasitism by Spalangia cameroni (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) of pupae of Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae): Frequency and implicationsOriginal article

Luis DE PEDRO1,2, Francisco BEITIA2, Josep D. ASÍS1, José TORMOS1
1 Área de Zoología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Salamanca, 37007-Salamanca, Spain; e-mails: ldepedro@usal.es, tormos@usal.es, asis@usal.es
2 Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias, Unidad Asociada de Entomología IVIA/CIB-CSIC, Apartado Oficial, 46113-Montcada, Valencia, Spain; e-mail: beitia_fra@gva.es

The effectiveness of natural enemies in controlling pests may be determined by many traits linked to their ability to regulate the density of their prey. In this respect, the phenomenon of pseudoparasitism, in which female parasitoids reject a host after inserting their ovipositor into it, is fairly common among hymenopteran parasitoids. However, in spite of this its effect on hosts is rarely reported in entomological and biological control literature. For this reason, in the present study, the pseudoparasitism by the parasitoid Spalangia cameroni Perkins of the Mediterranean pest Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) and its effect on several biological parameters of the host were studied under laboratory conditions. The results indicate that the percentage pseudoparasitism by S. cameroni of medfly in the laboratory is high, even slightly higher than host-feeding, which is commonly used to evaluate the potential of parasitoids as biological control agents. In addition, the adults that emerge from pseudoparasitized medfly pupae have a male-biased sex ratio, low levels of survival and are frequently damaged, which results in small adults and an inability to mate successfully. In conclusion, our results indicate that pseudoparasitism is common and enhances the effectiveness of S. cameroni attacking medfly, which highlights the importance of this phenomenon when selecting parasitoids to be included in a biological control programme.

Keywords: Hymenoptera, Pteromalidae, Spalangia cameroni, Diptera, Tephritidae, Ceratitis capitata, Mediterranean fruit fly, parasitoid, pseudoparasitism, overstinging, biological control

Received: April 20, 2018; Revised: July 20, 2018; Accepted: July 20, 2018; Published online: August 29, 2018  Show citation

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DE PEDRO, L., BEITIA, F., ASÍS, J.D., & TORMOS, J. (2018). Pseudoparasitism by Spalangia cameroni (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) of pupae of Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae): Frequency and implications. EJE, 115, Article 450-454. https://doi.org/10.14411/eje.2018.046
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